Thursday, 29 December 2016

Gemina: The Illuminae Files_02

Drone attacks,
double agents, dangerous parasites and damaged wormholes: Gemina is a worthy sequel to the award-winning international
bestseller, Illuminae. As per its
prequel, the novel is presented as a file comprising communications in various
forms – emails, radio messages, tribunal transcripts, instant messages and
surveillance footage summaries. (Fans of the flawed artificial intelligence
system from Illuminae will be pleased
to recognise AIDAN’s input too!)

The Gemina file also contains pages from the
private journal of its protagonist, Hanna Donnelly, whose artistic black and
white sketches (by bestselling author Marie Lu) grace the pages of the novel
throughout. The novel’s creative design truly renders it a work of ‘science
fiction meets art’. The text can be mirrored, upside-down, circular … even
sideways. There are graphic explosions and artworks comprised of binary
numbers. This is a novel that will catch the attention of all your fellow
commuters on the train (who will crane their necks, curiously, for a glimpse of
the title)!

The Illuminae file explained the atrocities
committed by BeiTech on Planet Kerenza. The Gemina
file is about BeiTech’s assault on the space station Heimdall and the
approaching Hypatia (with Illuminae
survivor, Kady Grant, onboard). The story commences with the trial of the
BeiTech Industries director (and an immediate dawning on the reader’s part of
who was behind the attacks). It is very much the story of two new characters,
Hanna and Nik, and their attempts to save themselves during the attack on
Heimdall. Plus their station crew. And the Hypatia survivors. Oh and, as it
turns out, the entire universe. Easy, right?

This fast-paced,
659-page thriller is bound to leave you wanting more. I’d highly recommend
reading Illuminae first – not
everything is explained in the sequel. It’s also nice to feel an attachment to
the report writers, as well as have an appreciation for AIDAN’s eccentricities!
Author team, Kaufman and Kristoff, have written another superbly layered novel,
calling on us to analyse the reports in our own way … all the while remembering
that we’re only being shown what somebody else wants us to see. The amusing
banter between the characters is quite enjoyable … as is the moment when the
authors kill off a couple of other bestselling YA authors. (Gasp!)